FAQs

Babes in Bikeland, a race and ride for women/trans*/femme (WTF) cyclists, aims to be a fun, encouraging and supportive bike event for all types of WTF riders. You can either ride far and fast to win the speed race, or you can roll around town with friends in costumes for an afternoon to remember.

How did Babes in Bikeland start?

Chelsea and Kayla met on a group bike ride and a beautiful friendship was born. Then they went to other group biking rides, races, and events and met other amazing women who biked. Beautiful friendships were growing at an exponential rate! And then they grew faster and stronger and more confident on their bikes because they had great women to ride with. And then they thought, “what if there was an event where we got a whole bunch of women together to ride bikes and create friendships at exponential rates and get faster and stronger and more confident on their bikes?!”. And then Babes in Bikeland was born.

Can cis men volunteer?

Yes, there are plenty of things that we need volunteers for. We’ll need help from cis males at the race stops, stamping manifests. We will be filling volunteer shifts in the last couple of weeks before the event. Questions about volunteering can be sent to babesinbikeland@gmail.com

Can WTFs volunteer?

Yes, you can definitely volunteer. We want this event to be open toWTFs in whatever capacity they’re comfortable with. While we do encourage you to give the race a shot, it’s ok if you can’t for whatever reason. Let us know how you’d like to help out. If you’re nervous about riding, grab a friend or two and ride with them. Trust me, if we had a dollar for everytime a new racer came up to us after the event and said how glad they were that they rode instead of volunteering or sitting on the sidelines, we’d have enough money for this event to be free. So give it a try!

Absolutely not! In fact, we discourage it. You are responsible for your own safety while participating in Babes in Bikeland, and to top it off, you’ll have a lot more fun if you don’t get hurt or get a ticket.

How long is the race?

The race style is similar to a scavenger hunt. You will be given a list of places you need to go to and you can choose to get there however you’d like. If you know the city well and follow the route you plot out on the map provided, you will finish the event in under 20 miles. If you get horribly lost, it could be more.

Why should I participate?

Because you can meet other phenomenal WTFs who bike. Because, if you’re new to biking, the entire cycling community wants to show you that you are welcome and supported. Because you will be surprised by how fast and far you’ll go. Because a ton of companies in the bike industry want to give you a bunch of free shit to show you that they support female cyclists. Because it’s a damn good time. The reasons are endless.

Babes in Bikeland is a safer space, what does this mean?

A Safer Space means that we’re working hard to make the space feel safe and welcoming for everybody, regardless of their gender/race/ability/orientation, etc. Women/Trans*/Femmes (WTF) identified people often don’t feel safe at bike events for a number of reasons. Why? Things like constant sexual advances; hearing homophobic or transphobic “jokes”; hearing racist or homophobic language even if it’s not to your face; intimidating language like putting down ability or bike gear- these things can make bike events into a hostile, stressful and dangerous place for some people. It means that when YOU are at this event, we ask that you don’t try to pick up WTFs, you don’t touch people without their enthusiastic consent, you don’t make homophobic or transphobic “jokes”, and you don’t use language that is grounded in hate or discrimination. Be nice to each other.